38586 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 138 / Thursday, July 22, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

(ii) Map of Unit 8 is provided at 

paragraph (8)(ii) of this entry. 

* * * * * 

Family Polygonaceae: Chorizanthe 

robusta var. hartwegii (Scotts Valley 

spineflower) 

(1) * * * The map provided is for 

informational purposes only. 

* * * * * 

Family Polygonaceae: Chorizanthe 

robusta var. robusta (robust 

spineflower) 

(1) * * * The maps provided are for 

informational purposes only. 

* * * * * 

Family Polygonaceae: Eriogonum 

gypsophilum (gypsum wild buckwheat) 

* * * * * 

NOTE: The map provided is for 

informational purposes only. Map 

follows: 

* * * * * 

Family Polygonaceae: Eriogonum 

kennedyi var. austromontanum 

(Southern mountain wild-buckwheat) 

(1) * * * The maps provided are for 

informational purposes only. 

* * * * * 

Family Polygonaceae: Eriogonum 

ovalifolium var. vineum (Cushenbury 

buckwheat) 

(1) Critical habitat units are depicted 

for San Bernardino County, California, 

on the map below. The map provided is 

for informational purposes only. 

* * * * * 

Family Polygonaceae: Eriogonum 

pelinophilum (clay-loving wildbuckwheat) 

* * * * * 

NOTE: The map provided is for 

informational purposes only. Map 

follows: 

* * * * * 

Family Polygonaceae: Oxytheca 

parishii var. goodmaniana (Cushenbury 

oxytheca) 

(1) Critical habitat units are depicted 

for San Bernardino County, California, 

on the map below. The map provided is 

for informational purposes only. 

* * * * * 

Family Polygonaceae: Polygonum 

hickmanii (Scotts Valley polygonum) 

(1) * * * The map provided is for 

informational purposes only. 

* * * * * 

Family Ranunculaceae: Delphinium 

bakeri (Baker’s larkspur) 

(1) * * * The maps provided are for 

informational purposes only. 

* * * * * 

Family Ranunculaceae: Delphinium 

luteum (yellow larkspur) 

(1) * * * The maps provided are for 

informational purposes only. 

* * * * * 

Family Rosaceae: Invesia kingii var. 

eremica (Ash Meadows invesia) 

* * * * * 

NOTE: The map provided is for 

informational purposes only. Map 

follows: 

* * * * * 

Family Scrophulariaceae: Castilleja 

campestris ssp. succulenta (fleshy 

owl’s-clover) 

* * * * * 

Family Sterculiaceae: 

Fremontodendron mexicanum (Mexican 

flannelbush) 

* * * * * 

(5) * * * 

(ii) Map of Subunits 1A and 1B 

follows: 

* * * * * 

Family Themidaceae: Brodiaea 

filifolia (thread-leaved brodiaea) 

* * * * * 

(15) * * * 

(i) Unit 12 excludes land bounded by 

the following UTM NAD83 coordinates 

(E, N): 

(A) 485555, 3652857; 485555, 

3652822; 485572, 3652827; 485610, 

3652827; 485613, 3652829; 485651, 

3652882; 485667, 3652882; 485667, 

3652899; 485556, 3652899; 485555, 

3652857; and 

(B) 485629, 3652710; 485749, 

3652710; 485749, 3652807; 485746, 

3652807; 485745, 3652820; 485744, 

3652822; 485723, 3652822; 485717, 

3652810; 485708, 3652806; 485690, 

3652791; 485679, 3652788; 485671, 

3652784; 485670, 3652780; 485665, 

3652765; 485663, 3652761; 485649, 

3652754; 485648, 3652750; 485635, 

3652718; 485629, 3652710. 

* * * * * 

Martha Williams, 

Principal Deputy Director, Exercising the 

Delegated Authority of the Director, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15045 Filed 7–21–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 210716–0148] 

RIN 0648–BK59 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and 

Butterfish Fisheries; Specifications 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS sets new 2021 and 

projected specifications for fishing year 

2022 butterfish and Illex squid, while 

maintaining the current longfin squid 

and Atlantic mackerel specifications for 

2021 and projected for 2022–2023. This 

action also adjusts the dealer reporting 

requirement and adjusts the closure 

threshold for the Illex squid fishery to 

avoid overages. This action is required 

to ensure that specifications for these 

fisheries is based on the best scientific 

information available. These 

specifications are intended to promote 

the sustainable utilization and 

conservation of the mackerel, squid, and 

butterfish resources. Additionally, this 

action reaffirms previously approved 

Atlantic chub mackerel specifications 

for 2021–2022. 

DATES: Effective July 22, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of supporting 

documents used by the Mid-Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council, including 

the Environmental Assessment (EA), the 

Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), and the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

analysis are available on the MidAtlantic Fishery Management Council’s 

website, or from: Dr. Christopher M. 

Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council, 800 North 

State Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901, 

telephone (302) 674–2331. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aly 

Pitts, Fishery Management Specialist, 

(978) 281–9352. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The regulations implementing the 

Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) require the 

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council’s Mackerel, Squid, and 

Butterfish Monitoring Committee to 

develop specification recommendations 

for each species based upon the 

acceptable biological catch (ABC) advice 

of the Council’s Scientific and 

Statistical Committee (SSC). The FMP 

regulations also require the specification 

of annual catch limits (ACL) and 

accountability measure (AM) provisions 

for butterfish. Both squid species are 

exempt from the ACL/AM requirements 

because they have a life cycle of less 

than one year. The regulations for squid 

require the specification of domestic 

annual harvest (DAH), the butterfish 

mortality cap in the longfin squid 

fishery, and initial optimum yield (IOY) 

for both squid species. 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 138 / Thursday, July 22, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 38587 

On May 26, 2021 (86 FR 28323), we 

published a proposed rule in the 

Federal Register seeking public 

comment on setting new 2021 and 

projected specifications for fishing year 

2022 butterfish and Illex squid, while 

maintaining the current longfin squid 

and Atlantic mackerel specifications for 

2021 and projected for 2022–2023, in 

addition to adjusting the dealer 

reporting requirement and adjusts the 

closure threshold for the Illex squid 

fishery to avoid overages. The proposed 

rule for this action included additional 

background on specifications and the 

details of how the Council derived its 

recommended specifications for 

Atlantic mackerel, Illex squid, longfin 

squid, and butterfish. Those details are 

not repeated here. For additional 

information, please refer to the 

proposed rule for this action. 

Following the publication of the 

proposed rule, the Council requested 

that we increase the Illex squid 2021– 

2022 ABC from 30,000 mt ABC to 

33,000 mt, as recommended by the SSC. 

At its May 2021 meeting, the SSC 

recommended this revised ABC based 

on updated information, including 

patterns that suggest an increase in 

abundance, low levels of exploitation, 

and catches that have been constrained 

by existing ABCs for the last 4 years. 

The SSC is confident that the Illex stock 

is at a high level of abundance and 

experiencing a low exploitation rate. 

This increase was within the range of 

alternatives considered and analyzed in 

the EA for this action, and the public 

had the opportunity to comment on this 

increase at the May 2021 Monitoring 

Committee meeting, the May 2021 SSC 

meeting, and the June 2021 Council 

meeting. 

2021–2022 Atlantic Mackerel 

Specifications 

The original 2021 Atlantic mackerel 

ABC recommended by the SSC for 

Framework 13 (84 FR 58053; October 

30, 2019) was based on projections that 

recognized a strong 2015 year class in 

the assessment results. At its July 2020 

meeting, the SSC considered 

preliminary results from the 2019 

Canadian Atlantic mackerel assessment, 

which indicated lower than expected 

recruitment. As a result, the SSC 

recommended maintaining the more 

conservative 2020 ABC for 2021. This 

action maintains the 2020 mackerel 

specifications outlined in Table 1 for 

2021. These specifications also maintain 

the 129-mt river herring and shad catch 

cap. There was an Atlantic mackerel 

management track assessment June 2021 

that will inform future ABC 

specifications once the final report and 

results are available. 

TABLE 1—ATLANTIC MACKEREL FINAL

2021 AND PROJECTED 2022 SPECIFICATIONS

Specification 2021–2022 

Overfishing Limit (OFL) ........ NA 

ABC ...................................... 29,184 

Canadian Deduction ............. 10,000 

U.S. ABC .............................. 19,184 

Recreational Allocation ......... 1,270 

Commerical Allocation .......... 17,914 

Management Uncertainty 

Buffer (3 percent) .............. 537 

Commercial Annual Catch 

Target ................................ 17,377 

DAH ...................................... 17,312 

2021–2022 Longfin Squid Specifications 

This action maintains the 2020 

longfin squid ABC of 23,400 mt for 

2021–2022. The background for this 

ABC is discussed in the proposed rule 

to implement the 2018–2020 squid and 

butterfish specifications (82 FR 58583; 

December 13, 2017) and is not repeated 

here. The IOY, DAH, and domestic 

annual processing (DAP) are calculated 

by deducting an estimated discard rate 

(2.0 percent) from the ABC (Table 2). 

This action also maintains the existing 

allocation of longfin squid DAH among 

trimesters according to percentages 

specified in the FMP (Table 3). The 

Council will review these specifications 

during its annual specifications process 

following annual data updates each 

spring, and may change its 

recommendation for 2022 if new 

information is available. 

TABLE 2—LONGFIN SQUID FINAL 2021 

AND PROJECTED 2022 SPECIFICATIONS

Specification Metric tons 

OFL ...................................... Unknown. 

ABC ...................................... 23,400. 

IOY ....................................... 22,932. 

DAH/DAP ............................. 22,932. 

TABLE 3—LONGFIN QUOTA TRIMESTER

ALLOCATIONS FINAL 2021 AND PROJECTED 2022 SPECIFICATIONS

Trimester Percent Metric 

tons 

I (Jan–Apr) ................ 43 9,861 

II (May–Aug) ............. 17 3,898 

III (Sep–Dec) ............ 40 9,173 

2021–2022 Butterfish Specifications 

This action sets the 2021–2022 

butterfish specifications as outlined in 

Table 4, which are a 72-percent 

reduction from 2020. The 2020 

butterfish management track assessment 

found butterfish to be not overfished 

with no overfishing occurring in 2019, 

but if the full ABC had been caught, 

projections suggest overfishing would 

have occurred and the stock would have 

become overfished. While butterfish 

recruitment is variable, it has been 

declining since 1999 with historically 

low recruitment in recent years. The 

2021–2022 butterfish specifications use 

the Council’s risk policy at the time and 

the SSC’s assignment of a 100-percent 

coefficient of variation to the projected 

OFL. These specifications maintain the 

existing butterfish mortality cap in the 

longfin squid fishery of 3,884 mt and 

the existing allocation of the butterfish 

mortality cap among longfin squid 

trimesters (Table 5). 

TABLE 4—BUTTERFISH FINAL 2021 

AND PROJECTED 2022 SPECIFICATIONS IN METRIC TONS

Specification 2021 2022 

OFL ........................... 22,053 24, 341 

ABC .......................... 11,993 17,854 

ACT ........................... 11,393 16,961 

Assumed discards .... 637 637 

Total discards ........... 5,043 5,466 

Butterfish cap in 

longfin fishery ........ 3,884 3,884 

DAH .......................... 6,350 11,495 

TABLE 5—2021 TRIMESTER ALLOCATION OF BUTTERFISH MORTALITY

CAP ON THE LONGFIN SQUID FISHERY

Trimester Percent Metric 

tons 

I (Jan–Apr) ................ 43 1,670 

II (May–Aug) ............. 17 660 

III (Sep–Dec) ............ 40 1,554 

Total ................... 100 3,844 

2021–2022 Illex Squid Specifications 

Consistent with the Council’s June 

2021 recommendation, NMFS adjusts 

the 2021 Illex squid ABC from 30,000 

mt to 33,000 mt. Based on the SSC’s 

recommendation, the Council 

recommended that the ABC be reduced 

by the discard rate of 4.61 percent, a 

change from the status quo discard rate 

of 4.52 percent, due to updated data that 

will be used in the 2022 Illex Squid 

Research Track Assessment. Using the 

updated discard rate results in a 2021– 

2022 IOY, DAH, and DAP of 31,478 mt 

(Table 6). The Council will review this 

decision during its annual specifications 

process following annual data updates 

each spring, and may change its 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1

I 
38588 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 138 / Thursday, July 22, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

recommendations for 2022 if new 

information is available. 

TABLE 6—ILLEX SQUID FINAL 2021 

AND PROJECTED 2022 SPECIFICATIONS IN METRIC TON

OFL ....................................... Unknown 

ABC ...................................... 33,000 

IOY ........................................ 31,478 

DAH/DAP .............................. 31,478 

Illex Squid In-Season Management 

Measures 

This action modifies the current 

weekly reporting for commercial dealers 

after July 15 to a 48-hour reporting 

requirement for accurate landings 

monitoring during the fishing season. 

This action also modifies the closure 

threshold from 95 percent to 94 percent. 

Both measures are designed to help 

avoid quota overages, which occurred in 

2018 and 2019. 

Reaffirmation of 2021–2022 Atlantic 

Chub Mackerel Specifications 

Amendment 21 to the FMP previously 

implemented chub mackerel 

specifications for the 2020–2022 fishing 

years. The Council reevaluated these 

specifications at its October 2020 

meeting and decided to make no 

adjustments for the 2021–2022 fishing 

years. This action reaffirms the 

previously implemented specifications. 

TABLE 7—REAFFIRMED ATLANTIC

CHUB MACKEREL FINAL 2021 AND

PROJECTED 2022 SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS IN METRIC TONS

Specification 2021–2022 

ABC ...................................... 2,300 

Annual Catch Limit (ACL) ..... 2,262 

Annual Catch Target ............ 2,171 

Total Allowable Landings ..... 2,041 

Comments 

We received four comments on the 

proposed rule; one comment from the 

MAFMC, one from a commercial fishing 

industry member, and two from 

environmental organizations. The 

MAFMC and commercial fishing 

industry member recommended we 

increase the Illex squid ABC. We are 

increasing the Illex squid ABC from 

30,000 mt to 33,000 mt in this action 

based on updated information 

considered by the Council. The two 

environmental organizations mentioned 

the poor stock status of Atlantic 

mackerel in Canada and the actions 

Fisheries and Oceans Canada has taken 

to manage mackerel. The Council will 

be addressing Atlantic mackerel 

management at its meeting in August 

2021, following the updated 

management track assessment and the 

July SSC meeting. 

Classification 

Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS 

Assistant Administrator has determined 

that this final rule is consistent with the 

Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish 

FMP, other provisions of the MagnusonStevens Act, and other applicable law. 

There is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day delay in 

effective date. The start of the fishing 

year began on January 1, 2021. This rule 

increases the Illex squid ABC and 

adjusts the reporting requirements and 

in-season closure trigger to avoid 

another overage. A delay in 

implementing final measures would 

prevent the economic benefits from this 

rule from being realized and prevent 

achieving optimal yield in the summer 

fishing season. In addition, this rule 

reduces the butterfish ABC below the 

current specifications based on a recent 

butterfish stock assessment. Past 

performance suggests that this will not 

limit the fishery as recent landings have 

been lower than the reduced ABC, but 

there remains a risk of overages with the 

fishery operating under the current 

higher specifications. Therefore, it is in 

the public interest to implement this 

final action as soon as possible. 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration during 

the proposed rule stage that this action 

would not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The factual basis for the 

certification was published in the 

proposed rule and is not repeated here. 

No comments were received regarding 

this certification and no other 

information has been obtained that 

suggests any other conclusion. As a 

result, a regulatory flexibility analysis 

was not required and none was 

prepared. 

This final rule does not contain a 

change to a collection of information 

requirement for purposes of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The 

existing collection of information 

requirements would continue to apply 

under the following OMB Control 

Number: 0648–0229. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648 

Fisheries, Fishing, Recordkeeping and 

reporting requirements. 

Dated: July 16, 2021. 

Carrie Robinson, 

Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is amended 

as follows: 

PART 648—FISHERIES OF THE 

NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 648 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

■ 2. In § 648.7, add paragraph (f)(1)(ii) to 

read as follows: 

§ 648.7 Recordkeeping and reporting 

requirements. 

* * * * * 

(f) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(ii) From July 15 through December 

31, dealer or processor reports 

documenting Illex squid landings 

greater than 10,000 pounds (4.5 mt) 

must be received with 48 hours of 

landing. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 648.24, revise paragraph (a)(2) 

to read as follows: 

§ 648.24 Fishery closures and 

accountability measures. 

(a) * * * 

(2) Illex. NMFS shall close the 

directed Illex fishery in the EEZ when 

the Regional Administrator projects that 

94 percent of the Illex DAH is harvested. 

The closure of the directed fishery shall 

be in effect for the remainder of that 

fishing period, with incidental catches 

allowed as specified at § 648.26. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2021–15538 Filed 7–21–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 210217–0022] 

RTID 0648–XB064 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Kamchatka Flounder 

in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

Management Area 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1